


Human emotion for beginners

by Crybaby_Devil



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: But he's always cute so.., Cute Data, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, I made this because I'm a simp for data, M/M, Short Chapters, gender neutral reader, shy reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:47:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29120700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crybaby_Devil/pseuds/Crybaby_Devil
Summary: The new psychologist onboard of the Enterprise tries to help Data with understanding and adapting to human emotion
Relationships: Data (Star Trek)/Reader
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Aight my dudes I have just started watching Star Trek so don't judge if something's inaccurate. Hope you like it! Also English isn't my first language so ;-;

The U.S.S Enterprise quickly took up an important role in the widths of the universe since Picard took up the command of this space ship. The Enterprise and it's crew often got involved that were mostly difficult by nature rather than pleasant, yet they always somehow managed to overcome the attacks and the threats that awaited them in the endless darkness that waited for them out there.  
And since there were more than plenty of people on the ship that had to deal with these opposing forces it posed to be difficult for the ships Counselor, Dianna Troi, to take care of everyone aboard who wishes to speak to someone professional about these things. That was why she asked the Captain to get at least a few more qualified psychologists on the Enterprise to ensure the wellbeing of the crew, and Picard was quick to act on this request. 

That was why you, as well as a few colleagues in the field, were soon picked up from other planets to serve the Enterprise with your counseling. You were the last one to be picked up, and when they beamed you onboard your view quickly changed from your home planet to your new, future workplace. Instead of the well known walls you could now see the faces of the crew, ahead the Captain that you've heard so much from. You smiled and carefully walked down the metallic podium to greet them. "I'm Captain Picard, we are glad to welcome you to the Enterprise." You nodded and looked over to the pretty dark haired lady that was standing next to him.  
"Thank you Sir. Then this must be Counselor Troi." She introduced herself as well, and together you took the Turbolift to get to your quarters. The Captain stayed in the lift to return to the bridge while Dianna and you exited in the part of the ship were the personal quarters of the crew was in. 

By seeing the repetitive floors and doors you felt a little lost already, "I hope I will be forgiven since I will surely appear for service late in the first week. This structure is confusing.." Your escort chuckled at that, "You will see that you will adapt more quickly than you think. I'm sure you will fit perfectly into our crew." You smiled at her, her encouragement gave you a little more confidence. It was overwhelming to serve at a ship all of sudden, especially such a large and prestigious one.

You were almost there when you came across a crew member- it must be a crew member because of the uniform he was wearing yet everything else about his appearance looked.. it looked like nothing you ever saw or read about before. You must have stared, because he returned your gaze all of sudden with golden eyes. Embarrassed that you have been caught you looked away again with widened eyes- your companion fixated you with a knowing smile.

She perceived the curiosity you felt clearly, and turned towards the man- "Commander Data," She addressed him, you almost wanted to insist out of embarrassment but kept shut when he approached.  
"Yes, Counselor?" He spoke in a fluid, smooth way. "I want to make you known to our new psychologist onboard, Dr. Y/N." Then she looked at you again, "This is Commander Data, the Operations officer on the bridge."  
...So you've just stared weirdly at a high ranking Commander, great.  
"It is nice to make your acquaintance, Doctor." You looked up to him in awe, you couldn't believe it but.. could he be..  
"Ah um.. yes, it is a pleasure Commander. If you ever require my services you can find me nearby the Medbay, I will be having my office there." He nodded, his expression remained unchanged. "Thank you, I will keep that in mind." The Counselor and him nodded at each other as well before he continued on his way.  
You couldn't help but watch him go, when you looked back to Counselor Troi you were met with an amused smile, it made you blush.  
"Don't worry, most people are taken aback by his appearance at first." You cleared your throat and both of you continued on your way. "It's not like I haven't seen stranger looking people before but.." you tried to put it into words, she completed your sentence. "He is something different." You nodded in agreement. 

She showed you to your private quarters, it was nice and left a lot of room for individualization. Your personal belongings were already brought here and ready to be unpacked.. 


	2. First day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thank you to the person who gave me my first Kudo <3 Feel hugged. Also I have decided that Reader is a weirdo like me

You woke up before your alarmclock rang today, it must be the excitement. Yet you still lied in bed for some more time, dipped in the dim artificial lights of your room while you stared out into space. It was strange to wake up and look out of the window to see the universe unfold just behind this thick glass. You saw stars gleaming in the distance, and you couldn't tell what awaited the Enterprise as you drifted further into this darkness.  
It was your first time serving on a spaceship, and there was just an entirely new feel to waking up here instead of your home planet. Instead of being around the people of your own species you were now surrounded by much different people. This would make your work as psychologist even more versatile than it usually proved itself to be!

You turned off the alarmclock, it was time to get up. When you stepped out of your quarters you would officially be at work, you would officially begin your first day at the ship, so you only had time to mentally prepare inside of these walls before it would begin. You wondered what kind of people would come to you for help, and if you would even have the pleasure of working with other species in this mostly human crew. Your mind flashed back to the man you saw the day before, and while he was surely seemed to be build like a human there was no doubt he was.. something else. You wondered if he would seek out Counseling as well, but if your assumption of what he might be.. proved to be right he wouldn't need it. 

Fresh and ready to work you stepped out of your quarters and.. stopped. Now.. where were you supposed to go again?  
You looked around, both sides of the floor looked damn identical.. soo.. how about you went left?  
Only a few people passed you in a hurry, mostly everyone was already at their assigned station so at least nobody could see how awkward you wandered the floors now. Look natural.. look like you're not just a fool who already forgot the way you came already. You pretended to look around in interest, yes yes these doors surely do look very cool, especially since you didn't just pass by sixteen others of these. 

You paced yourself so it wasn't all obvious that you were lost, maybe there was a map somewhere? 

"Doctor," you jumped at the sudden calling of your name and turned around only to see the man again you've embarrassed yourself in front of already- "Commander Data! Hello." You cleared your throat, maybe you could save your image if you acted all cool now. Pointing fingerguns at him you nodded and smiled, "How is it going?" ..Alright Y/n, not your best performance. 

Data eyed you and slightly tilted his head in wonder, "How is what going? If you mean me, I believe I am walking normally. Also I do not understand this gesture." You blinked in surprise. That was.. a very interesting answer. Clearing your throat you looked down at your hands before looking up to him again, "Oh thats.. um, those are fingerguns." His expression remained unmoved. "Is this a threatening gesture then? I hope I did not upset you Doctor."  
You couldn't help but smile a bit and shook your head. "No no, it's a cool gesture that is mainly used as a greeting and can be cheekily accompanied by a wink." He lifted his brows a bit, nodding. "I see, I will remember it." 

After a brief moment of silence, he spoke again. "I must return to the bridge." That was your chance! "Ah, I need to take the Turbolift as well." You walked next to him, mindful to let him take the lead though so he could show you to the lifts. Both of you entered the Turbolift and pushed the buttons, standing side by side. Well if you were standing here now you could ask.. "May I ask you a personal question Commander? Are you-"  
that was when the lift shot up, much quicker than you remembered it to be and you were cut off. The doors opened, there was the Medbay! Which meant your office was there as well. "Ah there it is, I'll ask later."  
You gave him a quick look and hurried out before the doors closed again. 

Data wordlessly watched you leave, his gaze lingered on you until the doors closed off and the lift proceeded on it's way up to the bridge. He.. did not quite understand this person. But he learned about a human greeting he has never seen before, which was a good process rate today already. 

He left the Turbolift, the crew was fully present. Approaching his bridge position he made eye contact with the Captain, and instead of a simple nod he mimed the greeting he learned earlier. Sending the Captain and the First Officer the Fingerguns at chest height before taking his seat at the station next to Geordi.  
Not only Picard and Riker, but everyone who has seen it was now perplexed and stared at the android in confusion. He felt their gazes and turned his head in wonder, "Data, what was that just now?" Riker asked with a confused smile. "Did I perform it wrong? Doctor Y/n taught me this human greeting." Dianna chuckled quietly but kept quiet, she figured that you would get to know each other, but your influence on him surely was interesting!  
Picard and Riker exchanged an amused look, "No.. it is just unusual." Picard noted and took his seat now as well. 

Data frowned a little and kept still for a moment, before he rised his brows and wordlessly turned back forward and begun setting up the display.


	3. Shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @strangeworks for your comment! I thought that maybe I hit this off badly and I should delete this fic but your comment motivated me to just keep it going <3

In your third week aboard the Enterprise you finally managed to remember some key locations on the ship, such as your Workplace. Which was very practical to know, since.. you know, you worked there. But even more, you found a pretty lounge per accident were they serve drinks and play music in the evening. Occasionally someone from the crew would sing or perform there, and today there was a special occasion announced to be stated there:  
The Anniversary of the Enterprise! Everyone was invited to join and compete with their jokes on stage, and exceptionally the underaged members of this ship were allowed to enter as well at this hour. But not only would the Lounge serve as venue, most of the ships large rooms would be part of this festivity. 

Everyone looked forward to it, and as the day came closer there was a somewhat lively atmosphere to the ship wherever you went. This would be a big party that celebrated this ship and it's crew, and many guests from planets that the Enterprise helped, as well as the families of crew members would come to partake in this special occasion. 

This day would be important for you as well, since you would first get to know the crew personally. It was like.. a social Debut for you, because so far the only people you have talked to were Counselor Troi and Commander Data. That put a lot of pressure on you, it wasn't like you were a party animal. You were the psychologist who awkwardly stood nearby and analyzed peoples body language to pass the time until it was appropriate to leave. And you didn't want to embarrass yourself by sticking around Counselor Troi all the time- It would make a bad impression if she saw how nervous you were to talk to the people that you were supposed to help.. by talking to them. It was your job, yet when you met people outside of a professional environment for the first time you had a hard time.

That was why you counted on your appearance rather than your small talk abilities for this evening, and with some luck you found the ships boutiques and shops. 

They had fashion from different planets in stock. Glowing pants, color changing underwear dependent on body heat, feather scarves.. but luckily you quickly found the section with normal human clothes as well.  
You were looking through the fancier row of clothes, when your eyes set on the reflection of the mirror next to you. It showed a curiously looking Data, who was putting a long scarf over his shoulder, trying to figure out how to wear it apparently. You couldn't help but chuckle and carefully approached him with a smile, "It looks a bit like you're a roman emperor." You noted, and he turned towards you. His expression didn't change, not even a polite smile. Shouldn't you have said that?  
"I cannot seem to figure out the proper use of this cloth. Humans like to present themselves with unnecessary items of clothing, especially at festivities. And since I was told to 'dress up nicely' for this day I thought this might be adequate." That was a very deadpan explanation for accessories just now, and yet again he spoke very matter of factly. Maybe he was related to a Vulcan?  
"I see! Something special then, but this doesn't really count for an accessory because we use scarves when it's cold." You hesitated for a moment, before you stepped a bit closer to him and rearranged the scarf correctly. Data watched your movements quietly and let you do what you were doing. It was interesting how humans had the social urge to help even when it wasn't concerning a member of their species..  
You turned to show him to the mirror, "That's how we wear them." You smiled and looked at him through the mirror. "Warm colors suit you well! They fit your eyes." A compliment.. for his appearance?  
That was the first time someone complimented his appearance in some way. Humans usually only mentioned what he looked like because they found him strange, but to hear that something.. looked good on him? That was new.  
He looked at you through the mirror in wonder for a moment, before he spoke. "Thank you." He eyed himself in the mirror, so similarity of colors was considered aesthetically. 

"Are you searching for appropriate clothing as well Doctor?" He asked now, and you nodded. "Yes, but I can't settle for the style because I don't know what amount of fancyness will fit the occasion. I don't want to stand out." You explained, not fully sure why you told him all this. "Why don't you wish to stand out?" He asked and frowned a bit.  
"Because if someone stands out people usually treat them differently and might even be judgmental towards that person. Humanity has become better in that point since we deal with other species, but among ourselves that is still existent." Data was quiet for a moment, and even though that man wasn't very expressive you could tell what he was thinking. Because.. he stood out at any times.  
But he didn't talk about it. People usually considered it silly or annoying when he talked a lot.  
"Humans are not bound to specific rules in concerns of clothing out of work. You present yourselves very differently." He lifted his brows a bit, "and as I was told, you express yourselves through clothing as well."  
He fully turned towards you again. "What do you wish to express?"  
That was.. a very good question. Your eyes widened a bit, that was surprisingly very eye opening. "I will.. think about that." You huffed and smiled, "Thank you." He nodded, "You are welcome. Why are you thanking me?"  
You chuckled, and went to leave, but looked back at him for another moment, "For your words." 

He was left standing there. He did not quite understand what you meant, but it proved to be yet another interesting conversation with you. 

A bit later, Data left with the scarf.


End file.
